Chuck (TV series)
Chuck was a fictional action-comedy television program from the United States, created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak which aired on NBC. The series focuses on "incredibly intelligent computer-whiz-next-door", who went to Stanford University yet has become an underachiever working in an electronics store 'Buy More.' Eventually a skilled spy, Chuck Bartowski ventures into the world of espionage, with the help of his father's top secret government database; the Intersect. On missions, he is partnered with handler CIA Agent Sarah Walker, NSA agent Colonel John Casey, and his best friend, Morgan Grimes. As of the final season, the team went independent and opened their own spy for hire firm, Carmichael Industries. The series begins when Chuck is still trying to get over ex-girlfriend, Jill Roberts, and receives an embedded email from college roommate, Bryce Larkin, who unbeknownst to Chuck, works for the CIA. The email contains the government's intel database, the Intersect. Season One See Also: Season One Chuck Bartowski is a twenty-something in Burbank, CA who works as a computer expert for the Nerd Herd at his local Buy More (a parody of Best Buy and their Geek Squad), a large retail electronics chain, with his best friend, Morgan Grimes. Chuck's sister Ellie, is a doctor who is constantly encouraging him to make progress in his professional and romantic life. Also joining the cast is Ellie's boy freind, Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb, also a doctor, looking out for Chuck's social life. On the night of his birthday party, Chuck receives an e-mail from Bryce Larkin, his former Stanford University roommate, who is now considered a "rogue" Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. When Chuck opens it, the entire database a secret neural supercomputer called The Intersect is subliminally embedded into his brain. Both the National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA want the intelligence returned to them and dispatch agents of their own. Major John Casey and Sarah Walker were sent to retrieve the data and assess Bartowski's threat potential. Since the information was stolen by Larkin and the government's copy is destroyed in his attempted escape, and since Chuck experiences "flashes" of information from the database activated by certain triggers around him, such as faces, voices, in-context keywords, and visual cues, he must now function as The Intersect, using the knowledge he now possesses to help the government thwart assassins and international terrorists—upending his previously uneventful life. In order to preserve their safety, Chuck must keep his new-found position as intelligence asset a secret from his family and friends, forcing Casey and Walker to establish an uneasy alliance and secret identities; Walker poses as Chuck's new girlfriend and takes a cover job at the local restaurant, the Weinerlicious, next to the Buy More, while Casey gets a job at the Buy More, with the shared goal of protecting Chuck at all costs. In the meantime, the government attempts to rebuild the Intersect computer. As it nears completion, Casey is ordered to kill Chuck as soon as the new Intersect is ready, to keep the itelligence out of enemy hands. However, in the premiere of Season Two, the new Intersect is sabotaged by the rogue organization; "Fulcrum", leaving Chuck as the only Intersect, and sparing his life. As the series progresses, it is revealed that Bryce is still alive and that a rogue spy group called Fulcrum, is searching for the Intersect, which they believe to still be in the possession of Bryce. Several Fulcrum agents have independently discovered that Chuck actually is the human Intersect, or is at least capable of becoming so, but all have been apprehended or killed before they could pass the information on. Season Two See Also: Season Two It is revealed that Fulcrum is attempting to build it's own Intersect, as Fulcrum believes the CIA has stopped trying to rebuild theirs. In the episode Chuck vs. the Suburbs, (aired February 16, 2009), the collection of all secrets from Fulcrum's own Intersect test bed project was implanted into Chuck's head. Eventually, all of the Intersect information is removed by Chuck's father who is also the Intersect's chief designer, Stephen Bartowski (a.k.a. "Orion", played by Scott Bakula); however, in the Season Two finale; , (April 27, 2009), Chuck voluntarily uploads the newest version of the Intersect (Intersect 2.0) into himself to save his friends, which allows him to flash on many skills, rather than just the file information and computation of previous Intersects. Season Three See Also: Season Three As of Season Three, Chuck is now officially a CIA agent, as he successfully completes his spy training when he tries to impress Sarah as she was dating Daniel Shaw, another CIA agent. In this season, Team Bartowski begins going after the hostile organization called, the Ring. The organization was revealed in the season two finale by Bryce, shortly before his death and the activation of the Intersect 2.0. Throughout the third season, Chuck faces his spy training and has to do many of the missions that Team Bartowski had to go through by himself. During one mission, he meets CIA agent, Daniel Shaw, who was ordered assassinated by the Ring. They attempt to force Devon to act as their assassin, who the Ring believes to be a CIA agent rather than Chuck. It is revealed in Chuck Versus the Final Exam, that Sarah was assigned by the CIA to kill a woman for her red test, the final stage of the spy training as to where the CIA trainee is to kill their target without question. In Chuck Versus the Other Guy, Shaw has joined the Ring for revenge as he was convinced by the Ring Director that his wife, Evelyn Shaw, was the woman Sarah had killed five years prior to the events of the season. Chuck manages to save a nearly unconscious Sarah from Shaw on their mission in Paris by shooting Shaw, a significant moment for Chuck. Shaw returns just before the season finale and shoots Stephen Bartowski. Returning in the season finale, he works to discredit Team Bartowski and General Beckman. He brings the Ring's superiors; the Five Elders. Team Bartowski manages to identify the Ring leaders and proves to the entire CIA and NSA officials on Daniel Shaw's allegiance to the Ring. Shaw escapes and returns to the Buy More where he plants explosives. Chuck engages in martial arts battle against Shaw, who is using the Ring version of the Intersect 2.0. After Chuck defeats him, Morgan accidentally blows up the Buy More. Chuck then resigns from being a CIA agent at the request of Ellie after she finds out about Chuck's secret spy life. The season has also revealed Casey's daughter, Alex McHugh (played by Mekena Melvin). Season Four See Also: Season Four In Season Four, General Beckman forces Chuck to rejoin the agency. In this season, Chuck begins his search for his mother, Mary Bartowski (played by Linda Hamilton) who had left the family when he was in the fifth grade. Chuck later discovers that Mary is the right hand man of international arms dealer Alexei Volkoff (played by Timothy Dalton). Mary manipulates Chuck into a search for her supposed MI6 handler Gregory Tuttle, to help prove to the CIA that she is a double agent working against Volkoff. When Chuck successfully brings the two together, they lead him to the intelligence that contains the proof needed, however, the disc card is not compatible with a computer anywhere and that there is only one computer that can. Chuck brings his mother to his dad's secret base, where Stephen kept all the intelligence involving Fulcrum, Volkoff Industries, and many more, in an effort to find Mary. Mary betrays Chuck as she flashes him with a portable device which suppresses the Intersect in Chuck. Sarah who was accompanying Chuck, was knocked unconscious by Tuttle, who then reveals himself to be Alexei Volkoff. Volkoff then places detonators around the base, but Mary prevents Chuck from revealing Stephen as his father,and Volkoff seems ignorant that Chuck is her son. Before departing, Mary gives Sarah a means of escaping the base. The base is then ompletely destroyed, leaving nothing behind. Later in the season, Mary explains to Chuck that she was not assigned to find Volkoff, but his network. Volkoff also finally finds out that Chuck is Mary and Stephen's son when confronted by her as he held Chuck at gunpoint. He then forces Chuck into inviting him to the Bartowski family Thanksgiving dinner, in an effort to get along with Mary's family to impress her. After they finish their dinner, Volkoff deduces that Chuck and Sarah had activated a silent alarm to the nearest CIA base. Volkoff has his men surround the courtyard, attempting to kill them. However, Mary prevents this by having him at gunpoint instead. Volkoff lowers his gun when Mary tells him that she could not love a man who would threaten her son. They then leave Chuck and Sarah unharmed as Volkoff pulls out of Burbank with his operatives. In , Sarah begins to take dangerous measures in helping Chuck get his mom back, and she joins Volkoff's organization, quickly earning the same respect and trust Volkoff has for Mary. When working for Volkoff, Mary and Sarah find Volkoff's network, the Hydra Network, the reason of Mary being in deep cover for 20 years. They then find out that the Hydra's database is on a ship called The Contessa. Chuck and Morgan, on a rogue mission to help his mom and Sarah team up with them. The Hydra network was then uploaded onto Stephen's computer at Orion's secret Pine Cabin, as Volkoff comes to the cabin thinking Orion was alive, later revealed to be Chuck's clever manipulation. Volkoff was then arrested and the Hydra network finally in the hands of the CIA. Chuck and Mary then rush to Ellies hospital in time to be there for the birth of baby Clara. Chuck proposes to Sarah just after Ellie gives birth to Clara Woodcomb. Characters and Cast See Also: A full list of characters See Also: A full list of Actors * Charles "Chuck" Bartowski is played by Zachary Levi * Agent Sarah Walker is played by Yvonne Strahovski * Colonel John Casey is played by Adam Baldwin * Agent Morgan Grimes is played by Joshua Gomez * Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski-Woodcomb is played by Sarah Lancaster * Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb is played by Ryan McPartlin * General Diane Beckman is played by Bonita Friedericy * Michael "Big Mike" Tucker is played by Mark Christopher Lawrence * Lester Patel is played by Vik Sahay * Jeffrey "Jeff" Barnes is played by Scott Krinsky Save Chuck Campaign For more information: Save Chuck Save Chuck was the the 2009 fan Campaign to save the television show Chuck from being canceled at the end of season two, and for NBC to renew Chuck for a third season. Changes In early drafts of the episode of Chuck, many things different were different from the aired episode such as: * Kayla Hart - Chuck’s next door neighbor. Single, twenty-five and heavily into the indie music scene. Kayla was a potential love interest for Chuck. The character was removed completely. * The scene where Bryce Larkin escapes from after stealing and blowing up the intersect computer that housed the First Intersect was extended. * The Nerd Herd was originally to be called the Geek Force instead. * Chuck and Morgan were playing the Xbox to avoid the birthday party rather than escaping it. * General Diane Beckman was originally named as General Mary Beckman when she was originally portrayed by Wendy Makkena. Quotes See: Chuck Quotes Spy Gadgets Chuck being a spy show features quite a lot of gadgets, for a full list see: Category:Gadgets Locations and Setting There are many different locations frequently used in Chuck, for a full list see: Category:Locations Episodes See Also: Full Episode Guide Chuck aired a total of five seasons. The first season of Chuck was originally aired back in 2007–2008, a total of 13 episodes. After the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, NBC renewed Chuck for a second season instead of extending the first to a full season of 22 episodes. Chuck: Other media Link: Chuck Spin-off Media A number of other media spin offs from the television series have been created. The main ones are listed below: * Chuck Versus the Webisodes * Meet the Nerd Herders * Morgan's Vlog * Buy Hard: The Jeff and Lester Story Chuck Graphic Novels For full information: Graphic Novel Wildstorm, a DC Comics imprint, produced a six-issue mini-series written by Peter Johnson and Zev Borow, with art by Jeremy Haun and Phil Noto. It started in June 2008. A trade paperback collection was published in July, 2009. It also includes a public service announcement on brushing one's teeth from Captain Awesome and two gag adventures with Morgan based on film noir and The Odyssey. (WildStorm also releases Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina, a series that sees its main character fused with a technological structure, issue #39 of which is used within Chuck to conceal the Intersect operating manual from General Beckman, Casey, and Sarah for Chuck's studies from Season 2, episode #17 onwards.) Music For a full list of music that's been used in Chuck, visit: Music Used in Chuck Like any television show, Chuck contains music or songs within it's episodes. The main example of this would be the show's title sequence (or theme tune) which is sample of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Cake, which first appeared in Chuck Versus the Tango. Trivia, Notes, Allusions and Pop/Geek Culture References See: Trivia, Notes, Allusions and Pop/Geek Culture References Podcast For more information see, Gray Jones Tie in Websites A tie in website are websites created by the produces of a show which create real on the web sites to promote and give further information about the show to fans. Chuck has the following websites: NBC Chuck: * NBC Chuck homepage * Chuck Spy notes * Morgan's room-mate rules * Casey Facts * 22 Reasons Chuck trust Morgan * Chuck's Fulcrum chart Fictional sites: * Inside the Buymore * Nerd heard help * Chuckssecret.com * Chuck on stickam * Chuck on Digg * Chuck on last FM * Chuck's Geek2Geek profile * Chuck word press * Chuck blogspot Myspace: * Chuck Bartowski on Myspace * Morgan on Myspace * Ellie on Myspace Chuck Bartowski has an account on YouTube. As of July 2007, he hasn't uploaded any videos yet, but his favorites list includes "Brokeback to the Future", and clips of Beck and Pavement. It is safely assumed to be a fan made account. This profile can be found here Category:Content